Sen. Feinstein calls for an international treaty on cyberspace to create mutual assurances of protection. Experts say the difficulty is determining the threshold of what constitutes an attack worthy of war. Delayed DoD cyber command would play key role in coming up with strategy for offensive and defensive cyber actions.

Agencies and industry are trading employees with specific technology skills, but in the end both need to increase the overall workforce. One expert calls for the professionalization of cybersecurity workers. Agencies are finding new ways to recruit these in-demand employees.

A provision in the Commerce, Justice, State appropriations bill could give NIST a larger role in protecting federal and civilian computer networks. The plan is from one influential Maryland lawmaker, who believes the battle for cybersecurity needs to be fought in the Free State.